Amazon.com, Inc. Plunges After Weak Earnings Results

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) released its fourth quarter earnings results after closing bell tonight, posting basic earnings of $1.03 per share and diluted earnings of $1 per share, compared to the consensus of $1.56 per share. Revenue was $35.7 billion, compared to the average analyst estimate of $35.93 billion. In the year-ago quarter, the online retailer reported earnings of 45 cents per share and revenue of $29.3 billion.

Amazon posts solid growth but still disappoints

Operating income rose 88% to $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with the year-ago quarter’s operating income of $591 million. For the full year, net sales climbed 20% to $107 billion, compared to the $89 billion recorded in 2014. Currency exchange cost Amazon $5.2 billion throughout the year, so excluding that, net sales climbed 26% for the full year. Net income for the full year was $1.25 per share or $596 million.

Amazon’s North American retail business recorded $21.5 billion in sales, while the International business clocked $11.8 billion in revenue.

“Twenty years ago, I was driving the packages to the post office myself and hoping we might one day afford a forklift. This year, we pass $100 billion in annual sales and serve 300 million customers,” Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. “And still, measured by the dynamism we see everywhere in the marketplace and by the ever-expanding opportunities we see to invent on behalf of customers, it feels every bit like Day 1.”

Amazon Web Services posted net sales of $2.4 billion, which was a bit ahead of the consensus at $2.3 billion. The company wasn’t breaking out revenue for Amazon Web Services in the year-ago quarter, although last year analysts were estimating it at about $1.5 billion, according to MarketWatch.

Amazon releases guidance

Amazon management guided for net sales of $26.5 billion to $29 billion, compared to the consensus of $27.2 billion. They expect operating income of $100 million to $700 million, compared with last year’s first quarter of $255 million.

Shares of Amazon tumbled by as much as 10.84% to $566.46 per share in after-hours trades.

Author: Michelle JonesMichelle Jones was a television news producer for eight years. She produced the morning news programs for the NBC affiliates in Evansville, Indiana and Huntsville, Alabama and spent a short time at the CBS affiliate in Huntsville. She has experience as a writer and public relations expert for a wide variety of businesses. Michelle has been with ValueWalk since 2012 and is now our editor-in-chief. Email her at Mjones@valuewalk.com.